I bought these bad boys this summer, incomplete and spray-painted black by the previous owner and now it's time to restore them back to the original pale gold with polished lips. As you know I'm a big fan of original retro/nostalgic parts and I've wanted a set of these since I first saw them.

So they've run 6 iterations of the MS-01 over the years all with subtle changes to the 5-spoke design, most notably on these as a 2-piece design called the Lemans Replica. These were made by RAYS engineering under the MAZDASPEED name in the early-mid nineties to replicate the wheels used on the 787B in Le Mans - hence the center caps made to look like the singular wheel lock nuts used on the race car.
The LM Reps were available in 16-18" in 6.5 -9.0" widths (from what I've seen) and relatively high offsets from about +25 to +40 (again from what I've come across personally). Mazda used the MS-01s on the 787B for most of its promotions but then swapped the fronts for those aerodynamic dinner plates that you more commonly see in pictures for the actual races. I only wish they offered the production MS-01 in super-low offsets like the real deal!




This is the original pale gold colourway, and my final goal:


These are mine from when I first bought them. 17x8.0JJ +30 on the rear, 17x7.0JJ +30(I think, the stickers were painted over).

they fit nice on the back although when I need new rears I'll probably downsize from 235 to a 225 tire and put a 15 or 20mm spacer to bring the wheel out nicer.

Notice no center caps and they are HARD to come by without a seller insisting that a set of wheels comes with them. I eventually sourced a set from a forum in Australia and shamefully payed more than I would have liked. They come in two pieces: a cover that fits over the lugnuts, and the nut that screws overtop of the cover onto the wheel. (I'll have more pictures when the wheels are finished.) There are also little wire clips to finish off the look but since they serve no functional purpose I refuse to pay $30 each plus shipping for them, so I'll live without them for now.

Anyways I got my car on jacks in storage and got the tires off... time to go to work! I didn't feel like bringing out a good camera and setting up a flash so these shitty phone pics will do. Sorry.

I thought they were 3 piece wheels based on what others were saying on the forum but turns out just 2-piece.

There are 29 bolts to hold the center piece to the barrel with these two weird extra pieces that bolt on the way I'm holding it in the picture below... not sure what they're for.


That's all for now, just need to finish taking the other 3 apart then I'll be stripping the paint off the barrels and polishing the lips, then probably taking the centers to Sam (dj55b) at RE-Speed who quoted an incredible price to have the centers sand-blasted and powdercoated. I've been offered a possible deal with a CSCS sponsor since I did all that photo work for them last year, which involves the entire wheels so I may go that route instead - we'll see.
I'll post more pics as progress continues!

 

for a photographer, you sure do take crappy pics lol.....this is probably the only time I can ever say that to you lol. Might as well pay for the little clips if you are doing a full resto..Cant wait to see these done man. Keep updating the tread as you go along. Im also in the market for a powdercoater

 

Those will look fantastic on your car when your done. I'll probably have Sam blast and paint my centers too. It's so nice that he's local to me. I can't imagine trying to sand down every nook and cranny on a mesh wheel. They show up tomorrow according to UPS so YAY!!

 

So potent, I want a set for my FC.

 

wheel wizards have done 3 sets of wheels for me. no complaints.

 

I needs some wheels powder coated as well

I know a guy that can do custom barrels for the wheels any kind of wheel

 

Interesting... probably too expensive for now but if I remember this, whenever I'm ready for a new set of wheels I'd consider just getting new barrels made in a wicked offset


Also for anyone who needs powdercoating, Sam's price was better for sandblasting and powdercoating than anywhere else I asked and although I've never had any work done by him, his car should reflect his work quality lol.

 

Nice pieces, I run these myself on my FD. 8's on the front, 9's on the rear.

Now, if a guy can just find two more center nut springs my set will be complete.

Good luck with the resto.
- Cors

 

Cors, ask and ye shall receive! Scroll down to the last picture.
http://www.astinagt.com/forums/showp...postcount=1088

 

Oh and I found out what those weird slivers of the wheel are for.
Since these are two piece wheels you have to get the larger diameter center discs out of the back of the smaller diameter barrel so they 'shave' two sides of the disc, and those additional lengths of metal are to help align the wheel I guess. Should've been more obvious before

 

I've been mulling over the idea of painting the nuts black instead of re-chroming them.

 

Cool, I'm going to try for those clips !

Thanks !

- Cors

 

All the wheels disassembled.
Looks like I`ll be going to Re-Speed for the blasting and powdercoating, no one else could beat the price!
Most likely sometime on reading week in Feb when I have time to make it out to London. Until then the project is on hold...
`The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education`-Albert Einstein

 

How much did you torque the centrr back?

 

I'm not sure what you mean.. I'll assume you mean torquing the bolts back together but I haven't done that yet. I've read (by googling... useful tool, that) that between 15-25 ft-lbs is about right.

 

Rich, if you ever suggest Wheel wizards again, ill shoot you! I lost my Rx8 for almost 2 months when St cats mazda curbed my rim. Instead of just replacing it, they sent it there, f-'ed it up 3 times, and I was never happy.

 

Thanks for posting this... Very informative. I just picked up a set in a junkyard for ￥10,000.

How's the refinish doing?

 

Well they're all apart, waiting for time to make the trek to London and finish sanding all that shitty paint off... last month I said during reading week but since I'm coming up to 4 more midterms I'll wait till those are done.
And I'm very jealous that you got a set so cheap! Do they have the center caps as well?

 

Haha, I know what its like for projects taking longer than expected, I've had all I need to make my 13B single turbo for 6 months now...

Yep, complete with center caps and the clips. They even gave me the big rays lug wrench to install/remove the caps. When I asked him how much he wanted and he answered, I had to hide my excitement!

 

Nice work, they look good.
I like that first picture.

 

Just in case someone is reading this and looking for a set, I'm considering selling these once they are finished, and buying a cheaper set of wheels so I can fund some new camera gear before the season starts. That's only if I can get my money back from these though. Just throwing that out there...
Sometimes it's not the finished product itself but the acquisition and process of finishing the product that's more rewarding.

 

Little update now that schools done for the summer and I had some time off this week.
Finally sent the wheel centers off to Sam at RE-Speed to get blasted and powdercoated.
and
Bought some Mar-Hyde Tal-Strip II aircraft-grade paint stripper and started working on getting the barrels clean.

 

couple more... done for the day and I need some more stripper!

 

I've also got a set of MS-01 Lemans, at least I'm pretty darn sure they are. However the lip isn't very deep on the front set.

They also need to be "fixed" the barrels need to be polished. and the centers blasted and re-coated. But I don't have any of the center caps, and I hear they're very very hard to find.

I remember someone saying carbing or some company like that will refinish rims for about $100+ / rim but I'm a little fuzzy as it was a long long time ago.

 

^ Probably Carcone's. Their prices for cleaning, repairing, repainting centres, and polishing lips, would be about $250 bucks a wheel according to their website prices. They do do good work from what I've seen however.

As for centre caps... go to www.astinagt.com and scroll down on the forum until you see Rupewrekt's JDM parts thread and you may find a set of centre caps for the wheels.